The present invention is related to a video conferencing system and method and, more particularly, to a teleconferencing system which is capable of producing a "video mirror" at a station such that any participants at one or more remote stations may be imaged and displayed in the video mirror at the station so that they appear to be present or face-to-face with any participants at the station.
Visual telephone systems presently provide communication between at least two locations for allowing a video conference among participants situated at each station. An objective in some video conferencing arrangements is to provide a plurality of television cameras at one location. The outputs of those cameras are transmitted along with audio signals to a corresponding plurality of television monitors at a second location such that the participants at the first location are perceived to be present or face-to-face with participants at the second location. In achieving good face-to-face presence, the number of conferees included in the video picture from each camera is normally limited to a few people, typically one to four. There are usually a like number of monitors at the receiving station, each strategically focused, aligned and positioned so that their displays appear contiguous, seamless and properly aligned. The apparatuses and methods employed heretofore to achieve proper positioning, focus and alignment have been complex and costly.
Further, the images captured by the plurality of cameras must be arranged and displayed so that they generate a non-overlapping and/or contiguous field of view, for example, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,890,314 which issued to Judd et al. on Dec. 26, 1989 and which is hereby incorporated by reference and made a part hereof.
The prior art systems have also been deficient because they have failed to provide means for generating an image, such as an image of a plurality of participants, at one station, differentiating the image to provide a differentiated image and subsequently compositing the differentiated image with a predetermined composite image to provide a composited image which complements or becomes visually complementary, contiguous or integrated with the remote station when the image is displayed at the remote station.
Another problem with prior art video conferencing systems is eye contact among participants at the stations. Typically, a camera is placed somewhere above the display monitor at which a participant is observing a display of the participant from the remote station. Consequently, the camera captures the participant at an angle above the participants viewing level or head. Thus, when an image of that participant is displayed at the remote station, it appears as if the participant is looking down (e.g., towards the ground). Previous solutions to this problem have required complex optical systems and methods using, for example, a plurality of lenses and mirrors. The solutions have usually been designed for use when the camera is capturing an image of a single participant, and they fall short when simultaneously capturing images of multiple participants.
The prior art stations themselves were not architecturally designed in a modular form so that they could be easily assembled, decorated and combined with a video image or sub-image from the remote station in a manner which would enhance the virtual presence environment.